The balance of power has shifted on the Santa Clara County Board of Education, and that can’t be good news for Superintendent Charles Weis.

The change was evident last week, when the seven-member board broke its tradition of rotating leadership. Why? Because trustee Grace Mah, perhaps Weis’ most ardent supporter, was in line to take over the board presidency — and thus, to set the agenda for the next year, when a critical vote on Weis’ contract comes up.

Instead, the board voted 5-2 to name Joseph Di Salvo, a Weis critic, as president. Newly elected trustee Michael Chang was named vice president. With incumbent board members split 3-2 on elevating Mah, Chang cast the decisive vote for Di Salvo on Wednesday.

Normally, Chang said, he supports rotating leadership on a board — he’s a veteran of the Cupertino City Council and school board — but not in this case.

In October, Mah asked the county board to censure two of its members, Craig Mann and Anna Song, for alleged ethics violations after they accepted campaign contributions from charter school supporters. The contributions (for their unsuccessful races for San Jose City Council and state Assembly, respectively) were reported on disclosure forms filed with the county Registrar of Voters.

Even after the Santa Clara County Counsel’s office opined that the contributions didn’t constitute a breach of ethics, Mah persisted in pressing the case against her board colleagues. “That really damaged her credibility,” Chang told IA.

He said he’d otherwise have been inclined to vote for Mah — not only because it was her turn, but also because she’s shown “leadership” and commitment to education. He claimed the fact that Mah is a Republican and he’s a Democrat didn’t come into play.

Chang added that Di Salvo has tried to stay above the fray among board members. “I’m hoping we will try to break that cycle of beating each other up.”

Will the board really abandon its infighting? Or is it just that the Song-Mann camp now has one or two more allies?

IA will be watching.

Smoke two joints and call us in the morning

Well, that first-ever hugfest between the suits at the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and the stoners at Harborside Health Center we told you about last week never came to be. And it wasn’t because chamber communications vice president Pat Sausedo couldn’t find her Doobie Brothers albums.

The story from both sides is that Harborside director Steve DeAngelo had to cancel Wednesday’s planned ribbon-cutting with the chamber because of an unspecified illness.

A receptionist at Harborside, which runs medical marijuana dispensaries in San Jose and Oakland, told IA there are no plans for rescheduling the “event to foster positive community relations.”

IA prays for a speedy recovery for the outfit’s long-haired leader and hopes the bash soon will be rescheduled, as we were looking forward to sampling the appetizers.

As Sausedo said, the medical marijuana guru “maybe needs to take his own medicine.”

Did DeAngelo get cold feet because his outfit remains technically illegal in San Jose? Unknown. But county narcotics agents did raid two other medical marijuana dispensaries on Thursday, the same day prosecutors filed money-laundering and drug charges against the owner of yet another collective.

Meanwhile, San Jose officials on Monday will press on with their yearlong exploration of medical marijuana zoning.

Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio hopes Monday’s study session will get the city closer to a vote on zoning that would allow and tax a limited number of medical marijuana dispensaries. He noted that voters last month overwhelmingly approved Measure U’s marijuana tax.

“The most important thing is to find a way to implement the will of the voters,” Oliverio said.

Congrats on the job! How do the shackles fit?

Among the hundreds of congratulatory texts, e-mails and phone messages Jay Boyarsky received after being named Santa Clara County’s chief deputy DA last week was one from the ever-dry George Kennedy. He used to hold the job before running for district attorney himself, and he’s familiar with the tough demands of the office’s No. 2 position.

Kennedy called the chief deputy’s job “the most distinguished and important position in Santa Clara law enforcement. It was my favorite.”

The e-mail, which Kennedy shared with IA, also noted: “It is the best job if you are dedicated … and will work 60-70 hours a week.”

Boyarsky could have taken a far easier assignment, managing the north county branch of the DA’s office, which would have let him walk to work from his house in Palo Alto. But, as the saying goes: No pain, no glory.

To a happy couple: We now pronounce you in violation

In October, friends celebrated the wedding of San Jose Downtown Association boss Scott Knies and Autumn Young, the marketing director of the Children’s Discovery Museum. Now it can be told that the happy day had an unhappy footnote.

For a “wedding eve” celebration at the museum, Knies parked on the street. Apparently, the nose of his car edged slightly past the white lines designating the parking spot. The result? A $35 ticket from the City of San Jose’s most efficient crew, parking enforcement.

Knies told the story Friday at his end-of-the-year wrap-up for the association at the Camera Cinemas. “I love San Jose, I love San Jose,” joked the executive, whose job is to draw people downtown through events like “Downtown Ice” and “Music in the Park.”

But we’d swear that the picture he showed to the crowd depicted him holding up the ticket with two middle fingers.

Internal Affairs is an offbeat look at local politics. This week’s items were written by Howard Mintz, John Woolfolk, Tracey Kaplan, Scott Herhold and Sharon Noguchi. Send tips to internalaffairs@mercurynews.com, or call 408-271-3638.

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